Painterly 2
Painterly 2 is a 3D action-platformer developed by N Studios for the Wii U. It is the sequel to the company's hit title, Painterly. Painterly 2 continues immediately after the end of its predecessor, and expands on the gameplay style. Story Introduction Under a great moonlight, the lush hills of Painterly Grove stood still in the calm midnight. In a small valley, just south of the wondrous Prismatic Lake, the cozy village of Staffnote was quiet, save for the swaying of the grass and trees in the gentle breeze. The residents, little human-like characters called the Painting Sprites, were all sleeping soundly. Among them were the famous Forte and Melody, two sprites hand-picked by the creator to venture into another world just the previous day. There, Melody was unfortunately captured after the duo worked to rid that world of darkness, and Forte had to rescue her from the hands of the world's dark lord, Morsai. Once Morsai had been defeated, the creator learned of his true nature, and then the two sprites returned home to now. Suddenly, the ground shook with a angry and powerful force, moving the weak houses of the village back and forth. Forte and Melody were quickly awakened by this, as were the rest of the Painting Sprites. They all gathered at the front of the village, as a growing shadow rose up over the horizon and blocked out the light of the moon. Standing at the helm of this great mass of darkness, was a mysterious kid wearing an intimidating piece of headgear that obscured most of his face. The armored wear was decorated in blue color and strange symbols. "This is what she gets! Monsters, cover this last bit of Painterly Island!" The kid shouted, directing the obedient dark creatures to attack. Forte and Melody stood ready to defend their home, alongside some other brave sprite warriors. • • • • • No matter how hard they tried, no Painting Sprite was able to hold off the onslaught of shadow monsters. Most of the sprites fled over the hills to escape the darkness that was slowly masking everything. Not Forte and Melody, though. They decided to fight through what they could and begin a journey through Painterly Grove, en route to the central city of Painterly Island: Watercolor Falls. To do this, they would need to clear the darkness from the Grove and from the twin peaks of Magmagnetica and Polarizica, electrically-charged mountains of fire and ice, respectively. Watercolor Falls and Palace The Ruins Echo Temple Aegis' Final Form The Girl of Echoes Ending Gameplay The main game mechanics of Painterly 2 take heavy inspiration from exploration-based 3D games such as Banjo-Kazooie, as well as more linear 3D platforming affairs like Super Mario Galaxy. In every world, there is one main objective: to reach the end boss. However, the journey to meet this boss requires the traversal of every area in the respective world. For example, one world may have a series of items to collect in order to put something together to reach the boss, and each piece is received via completing a different challenge or task that can vary in length and difficulty. This gives exploration a purpose so it does not feel unnecessary. Besides each world's non-linear approach, the progression of the game is entirely linear, and you cannot re-visit worlds once the end boss is beaten. In each world there are also "Challenge Crystals" that, when enough are accumulated, unlock levels that test even the most seasoned player's platforming and combat abilities. There are 30 Challenge Levels in total. Challenges Levels will unlock Journal Pages that supplement the main plot. Controls Mains Worlds Painterly Island The world of Painterly Island is the combination of areas created by Akaye, and are generally home to the Painting Sprites and indigenous regional creatures. It is here where Aegis' shadow army descends to cover the lands in darkness. Bosses Challenge Levels and Journal Pages Throughout the game, the player will unlock special levels meant to test the extent of their platforming and combat skills. These are very difficult and therefore are not required to complete the main game. The rewards for completing these are Journal Pages, which contain insight into various story elements. These are not mandatory to understand the main plot, but are definitely interesting reads that really add something to it. Soundtrack The soundtrack of Painterly 2 is mainly written in an orchestral/film score style. However, only a select few of the songs use actual orchestral samples; most of the tracks use more video game-esque MIDI soundfonts. (♫) - Uses orchestra samples. Gallery Painterly 2 Logo.png|Logo Forte (Painterly 2).png|Forte Melody (Painterly 2).png|Melody Akaye (Painterly 2).png|Akaye (Speaker form) Aegis.png|Aegis (Speaker form) Trivia *''Painterly 2'' has existed three times before, each with a completely different premise and even characters! *The battle against The Girl of Echoes is similar to the battle against Kura from the first game, for obvious size-related reasons. However, due to the character difference (playful and child-like girl of darkness vs. sacred powerful "god"), the theming of the battle is completely different (case in point: Kura doesn't try to eat you). *This is the third N Studios game to feature a boss battle against a giant female character. It is assumed that the mechanics of the Kura battle left a large enough impact to be re-iterated multiple times. *Midas Night (the first boss of the Watercolor Falls) is an obvious reference to the story of King Midas. One of his main attacks involves turning his henchmen, the Obsidian Nights, into gold weapons. Category:Action Adventure Games Category:N Studios Category:Painterly Category:Wii U Games Category:3D Platforming Games